Wagon-brake



(No Model.)

J. A. MARTIN. WAGON BRAKE.

'Patented Sept. 1, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH A. MARTIN, OF TALLEY OAVEY, PENNSYLVANIA.

WAGON-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 458,633, datedSeptember 1, 1891. Application filed November 11, 1890. Serial No.371083. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. MARTIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Talley Oavey, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDevices for LockingWVagons; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form apart of this specification, in which Figure 1 shows a side elevation ofso much of allay-wagon as is sufficient to illustrate the application ofmy device thereto. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of same. Fig. 3 is anenlarged view of clamp.

My invention relates to looks or brakes for wagons, and is especiallyadapted to haywagons; and my object is to produce a lock that willenable the driver to apply the same readily in descending declivities,and thus permit him to give greater attention to the guidance of histeam at such times; and I believe I have accomplished this by the devicehereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part hereof.

Referring to said drawings, a is a quadrant-shaped rack suitably securedupon the frame of said wagon. (Shown in the drawings as being securedupon the forward end thereof.)

1) is a pole the upper end of which terminates above the plane of thehay when loaded upon said wagon, and is pivoted near its lower endbetweenthe pieces 0 c, which form an extension to the front end of saidwagon. Attached to the lower end of said pivoted pole is secured the rodd, the other end of which is connected with the rubber or brake. e is aratchet-pawl, which is pivoted upon said pole a sufficientdistance abovesaid rack as to enable it, when it drops by its own gravity, to engagethe teeth upon the outer edge of said rack, as shown in Fig. 1. f is arope or line which passes through staples or guides g g 011 the front ofsaid pole, and may, if desirable, pass over a frictionpulley or sheave(not shown) at or near the top of said pole, and thence loosely throughthe orifice h h in the series of clamps 2' i, the other ends of whichare rigidly secured upon the rope j, which is secured to the top of saidpole for the purpose of drawing the same backward to apply the brake. Ifsaid pawl has not sufficient weight to maintain it in engagement withsaid rack, a rod may be secured to the arm thereof and at its upper endbe attached to the rope, whereby a greater weight may be secured.

The operation of my device is as follows: The driver when or beforedescending a hill catches both ropes, and, by drawing the pole backward,applies the rubber, and, by releasing the rope attached to the pawl-arm,which works freely in the orifices in the clamps, which hold it parallelwith the rope attached to the pole, permits the pawl to drop by gravityand engage the teeth of the rack, thus effectually locking said rubberand enabling the driver to give all his attention to the management ofhis team at a time when the same is of the utmost importance.

Itis unnecessary to enlarge upon the advantages of my improvement, as Ibelieve that they will be readily recognized by those familiar with thepresent method of locking hay-wagons when descending hills.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

In a device for locking wagons, the combination of the projecting pieceson the front of a wagon, a lever pivoted in said pieces and having itslower short end connected with the brake-block and its upper endprojecting above the top of the load on the wagon, a segmental toothedrack, a pawl piv-v oted on the lever and adapted to engage said rack, arope secured to the upper end of the lever, the clamps secured on saidrope at suitable intervals, said clamps projecting laterally from thesaid rope and having their free ends bent to form an eye or hook, andthe rope secured to the pivot and passing through the eyes or hooks ofsaid clamps, whereby the lever may be drawn. backward and.the pawlengaged or released from the rack, as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I hereunto affix my signaturethis 7th day of November, A. D. 1890.

irosnrn A. MARTIN. LL. 3.]

In presence of- O. C. LEE, 0. H. IVIARTIN.

